Technology Requirements
Allen College students must meet minimum technology requirements to successfully complete online and hybrid courses. The Allen College Computer Lab is available to students 24/7 and contains 24 computers meeting the minimum technology requirements.
Please contact David Wu at David.Wu@au99168.com at (319) 226-2054 if you need help in obtaining, installing or using any of these technologies, or if you have problems using any of these technologies.
Minimum Technolgy Requirements:
Up-to-date personal computer or laptop
Reliable internet connection
Microsoft Office 365 (Provided by Allen College)
- As an Allen College student, you have access to Office 365 which can be installed on up to five different machines. To install the products, go to: http://portal.office.com and sign in using your Allen College email credentials. The system may require you to use multi factor authentication to sign in. After signing in, click on the Install Office link located in the upper righthand corner of the screen. This should start the download and installation product for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, as well as other products. If you run into any issues signing in, contact the IT Service Center at 1-(800) 681-2060.
- This licensing does give you access to One Drive as well as share point, but you will lose access to this Office 365 licensing upon graduation. Because of this, it is recommended to save all files you have created to your local computer, jump drive or other cloud-based service.
Speaker to hear recorded lectures
Internet browser; Firefox, Chrome, Edge for PC or Safari for Mac
- If you have browser problems: Please try a different browser. For PCs, Firefox or Google Chrome are recommended for the best performance in Blackboard.
Printer or access to a printer
- Allen College provides four printers for student use. Two are available 24/7 in the computer lab, one is in the Barrett Forum Library, and the other is in Winter Hall.
Examples of commonly used technologies in Allen College courses include:
- Panopto
- YouTube
- Turnitin
- ExamSoft
- Collaborate Ultra
- Adobe Reader
Please note that other possible technologies, such as Epocrates, subscriptions (such as to free email lists like Tomorrow's Professor, Faculty Focus and the like), plug-ins, etc. may be required in specific courses. Information on obtaining these technologies will be provided in individual courses.